Baxter Corporation today announced it is investing $10 million to build a new facility inMississauga, Ontario for its Centralized Intravenous Admixing Pharmacy Service (CIVA). Triple the size of the current facility, the new Baxter CIVA Pharmacy Service will expand Baxter’s ability to meet the needs of Canadian hospitals, clinics and other care facilities for ready-to-administer intravenous (IV) admixtures including chemotherapy, high alert medications and anti-infectives, enabling pharmacists to focus on more direct patient care and clinical activities.
Baxter’s new CIVA facility will double its number of clean rooms available to support customized requirements for hazardous and non-hazardous IV admixing and the company anticipates expanding the workforce by approximately 25 positions over the next few years. Additionally, the new CIVA will include a new training facility through which Baxter will partner with professional organizations, academia, and hospital pharmacists and technicians to support their certification requirements and help maintain their skillset in IV admixing. The company expects to open and transition operations to its new CIVA facility in October 2015.
“Pharmacy practice is a dynamic environment and since its inception Baxter CIVA has worked closely with healthcare partners to develop innovative solutions,” says Mike Oliver, President, Baxter Corporation. “The new CIVA facility will triple its current size, helping to accommodate increasing and evolving customer needs for ready-to-administer medications and sharing best practices in IV admixing. We are very excited about the journey ahead for CIVA and engaging with our partners about the value Baxter can provide as an extension of their pharmacy services.”
“I’m delighted that Baxter has chosen Ontario to continue their investment in high quality patient care services. Baxter has been a long-standing healthcare leader and innovation partner in Ontario, and our growing life sciences ecosystem and innovation agenda has greatly benefited from their leadership to date. This investment highlights the caliber of innovation investments that are being made in Ontario, and we congratulate Baxter on this recent achievement,” says Minister Brad Duguid, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.
Baxter CIVA works with hospital pharmacies to help increase the IV admixing capacity of their in-house pharmacy without additional capital investment or headcount to provide specific therapies required for patient care while reducing drug waste and cost through extended shelf life and maximized use of each milligram across admixtures. Baxter CIVA also helps organizations mitigate their risk through reduced staff exposure to hazardous cytotoxics such as chemotherapy drugs; and provides full traceability of all medications used in admixtures. With tailored ordering and delivery schedules, Baxter CIVA also provides options of solutions which can be stored at room temperature to free up refrigerator space.
Reflecting Baxter’s desire to continuously elevate IV admixing practice, plans for the new CIVA facility feature state-of-the-art quality and regulatory design specifications, reflecting protocols, standards and best practices that Baxter has derived from its 28-years of Canadian expertise and globally from the company’s experience with compounding and admixing regulatory requirements established in other countries. The new facility will also incorporate all new Canadian and international practice guidelines and standards from organizations such as the Institute of Safe Medication Practice (ISMP) and Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP).
